Posted on 09/23/2009 6:19:16 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!
FYI
News thread, not a HH topic:
Peter Jackson vs. The Unions (The Hobbit vs Saruman)
“ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2607856/posts “
This story is NOT an official announcement. The story goes on to say that neither the control of MGM or the union problem has been settled, but that filming will start in February, 2011. Here’s hoping.
‘The Hobbit’ Gets Its Greenlight, With Jackson Directing
“ http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/breaking-hobbit-gets-its-greenlight-21749 “
Oh dang, that’s so cute!
The One Ring has the press release. It’s official.
Good deal.
But he's no Bruce Willis.
Great movie. Lots of people and things get blowed up.
I really want to know who’s playing Bilbo. I heard at one time David Tennant (Doctor Who) might be...then I heard he wasn’t and I was disappointed because I thought he would be great!
Sniff - “Leave it to Beaver” prime time viewing when some of us were young ‘uns. I imagine it’s still on some where...
Wow, that has been a long, long time in coming. Still, not to early to commence planning for a ‘Hobbit parts I & II moot’.
Hi 2JM, long time no hear. Official casting announcements should start almost immediately, currently it is still in the Gandalf and Gollum and likely Elrond and Galadriel coming back, all else is rumors.
Now that my M4E (economy) is wrapped up, including the six-pound trigger pull, I thought it was time to go over some of the M16/AR-15 tools I use to get through these projects with my sanity more-or-less intact. Here are the main ones, with the "must haves" on the bottom row, and the "nice to have" on top.
On the left is a plastic lower receiver vise block that locks into the magazine well. Inserted like a magazine, it lets you put the entire rifle into the vise, if needed.
This might also be a good time to say that you need a biiiiggg vise, the bigger the better. With the upper receiver removed, you can insert the block from above, and work on things upside down.
This plastic block will work with just about anything that uses an M16 magazine, even if you have to file a bit here and there. I even tweaked it to work with the magazine wells of the Colt/Walther M4-22 and the Sig P522. In both cases their magazine wells are slightly undersized to prevent anyone from attempting to insert a real M16 mag into them (people do try), so I just took a tiny bit off so I can use it on the .22s, too. Great all-around tool to give you an extra set of hands.
The upper receiver uses an aluminum vise block, instead. To clamp things right-side up, use the push-pins to lock it into the block, and them clamp the lower surface (minus the thumb screw) into the vise.
If you have a flat-top receiver, you can clamp the other side to the rails, letting you work on the upper with it upside down in the vise.
The last vise is the big elephant-gun model. It's a mammoth piece of hinged plastic, with a plastic filler to replace the bolt carrier. Its sole purpose is to support every square inch of the upper receiver so you don't crush it like a beer can while doing barrel work.
This is one tool I've never used, and never hope to need. But in the interest of completeness, I decided to include it.
Beyond all these vise blocks, there are a number of smaller tools in the "nice to have" category. Here's a plastic fixture that lets you install or remove the two taper pins and the roll pin for the gas tube on front gas blocks. You can sort of hold stuff off the bench and punch out the pins, but this is sooooo much easier, quicker, and non-scratch.
It has two sets of holes so you can work from either the left or right side, and the other end has no holes, so you can seat the pins back properly. This works with all types of gas blocks, and not just the GI tower-type.
Of course, in my rush to take lots of pictures, I left out a few. The top row also has a bolt takedown fixture, which lets you compress the ejector enough to punch out the roll pin and take things apart and put back together again.
And two items I omitted from the bottom row. The white plastic block is a dry-fire block that protects the hammer and receiver from cracking each other from "unprotected" dry firing. It locks into the magazine well from the top, and the protruding plastic absorbs the impact. Next to that is a M16 multi-tool, of which there are dozens of variations. This one can work on free-float tubular handguards, flash hiders, something-else-or-another, accept a torque wrench. The one thing I use it for, and it earns its keep doing, is using the stock spanner to loosen and tighten the lock ring that is used with telescoping stocks. I must have used it dozens of times already, and it's a real life saver.
All of these tools are available to Brownell's, and other suppliers. Some are unique, which the multi-wrench comes in about a dozen variations, and a wide range of prices. A $50 tool might not sound like a good deal, until it saves you a $100 gunsmithing bill, or banging-up a $1000 rifle.
My last quick (under $100) visit to Brownell's also turned up some totally useless, but oh-so-cute items for your AR-15.
First for me are three oversized mag release buttons, American-flag variety.
I'm passing on the engraved takedown pins, mainly because the images are tinier. Both are by Tactical Supply Depot.
And from Harford Engraving Services comes a line of M16 dust covers with various messages engraved on the inside of the cover, so they aren't seen until the cover pops open, which is probably a good idea. They have about 10 different versions listed, but most are already sold out, despite appearing on their web site just a few days ago. I ordered one of these (still in stock) as a test before I consider ordering others. I'll also have to ask Jeff, the owner of Highest Honor, if he'd like to add something like this to his product line.
Build a better mousetrap, or ejection port cover, and they will come.
Love that dust cover. Wish I could afford the bullet-launcher on which to install it.
Yes, that's it, the semi-circular spanner with the single "tooth". It comes in many versions at different costs, and different degrees of quality.
I've found that the magazine-well vise block is vital when working on buffer tubes. Many tubes, even from the factory, can use a bit of tightening, along with some blue Loctite.
There seems to be a tendency for that castle nut to loosen a bit with extended firing. Seen in ultra-high-speed photography, all weapons "twang" when fired, which tends to mess with fasteners over time.
Proper procedure is to stake the castle nut to the back plate after tightening. I've seen it done only once, and that was on the Sig 556. I had it clamped properly into the vise, and even with the heavy duty wrench, I didn't think I'd get the castle nut off. It took the last bit of my strength to break the stake points loose. I'd hate to think what might have happened if I had a flimsier wrench, or a flimsier vise or vise block.
One final bit of trivial advice: beware of cross-threading the buffer tube into the back of the lower receiver. Both are aluminum, and threads can be messed up easily. When I have them apart, I used Nanolube on the castle nut, and run it up and down the entire length of the thread on the tube. Then more Nanolube on the tube threads, and screw it all the way in to the lower receiver. When done, you should feel no tight spots, and everything spins easily the entire length of the thread.
After that, you should still be extremely careful in threading these parts together. This is one job you want to get right the first time. That way you won't have any nagging doubts after you're done.
Beat me to it.
Wonder who #3 will be.
Mrs. Thatcher is in hospital.
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